Letters from Elder Travis Neuberger called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Monday, February 18, 2013

Way Too Many Buuz Later

Well i guess I'm two weeks behind because of the short email last week. But let me hit the highlight reel . . .

Greeting the New Year

About
a week and a half and a go I fell in a six foot hole . . . not lying. We
were walking down the road to the bus stop and I was talking to some
other missionaries in my district on the phone. Because the lights
from the oncoming cars were so bright I couldn't really see where I was
walking, but being on the edge of the road you figure there shouldn't be
any holes. The moment before I fell I saw my companion stumble in front
of me and the next thing I know I'm six feet down hanging from some wire.
Not sure how I grabbed the wire but it kept me from falling any
further. The first reaction was that my leg was broken and I would have to go
home. I took all the impact on my left knee and I could not feel it at
all. The second thought, I kid you not, was: "how awesome will this
memory be!" My companion and I limped out of there about 10 minutes later.
The worst part was that I was wearing my new suit. The best part was
that even though my knee was ripped open my pants weren't!

Buddhist Totem for Tsagaan Sar

The rest of the week was spent making buuz for the elderly women in
the ward who were super cute and reminded me of Nana and Grandma. The
sisters in our district ditched us twice, but my buuz skills were good
enogh that my companion and I knocked out 500 on our own.

And then came to the eating buuz part. (Before I start, this week's letter is again going to be cut short cause the zone is going bowling today.)

Celebrating Mongolian Style

Tsagaan
sar was amazing. We spent about 4 days visiting 15 families and eating
over 120 buuz. On the third day I'm sure we set some sort of seasonal
record visting 8 houses. I'm pretty sure that even Joey Chestnut would have had to
tip his cap. It may not sound that amazing, but keep in mind that it's Mongolian custom (almost law) to make at least one set of buuz for everyone who comes in your house.